Uncommon Opposition to Common Core

Lizbeth Benacquisto appeared a shoo-in in the Republican Primary for the Special Called Election to fill the Congressional seat vacated by disgraced former Representative Trey Radel in Southwest Florida. As a sitting leader from the area in the Florida Senate, her name recognition should have brought her the victory.

Unfortunately for her, the Republican voters in such special called Primaries are generally highly informed conservatives. Her failure to win the seat is attributed to the differential in money spent on the campaign by some who don’t want to acknowledge the radioactivity of support for Common Core.

Others, who look more closely at all the issues in campaigns, opine that political newbie Curt Clawson’s landslide victory over three other candidates, including Benacquisto, was a result of his genuine pro-life, anti-Common Core, and economic prosperity message. Some point specifically to Benacquisto’s promotion of Common Core in the FL Senate as the reason she lost.

This should be a warning that FL voters won’t accept :

Changing less then 1% of the standards, naming them “Florida Standards”, and then referring to them as “our standards” to deceive the public into thinking FL is out of Common Core.

Claiming that tweaks to the law actually “fix” any of the concerns that informed citizens have.

Informing the public that the state is no longer accepting federal funding for Common core when in truth the “Race to the Top” grant is running out.

Choosing America Institutes for Research, a social engineering organization, to develop the FL assessment test. They have more expertise on how to “sell” the LGBT lifestyle than academic testing.

House and Senate leadership blocking any bill from even being heard that would truly pause or stop Common Core in the state.

Governor Scott is the best hope for stopping the continued implementation of Common Core in Florida. Call his office at (850) 717-9337. Ask him to:

Repeal the Common Core in the State of Florida.

Reinstate the previous Sunshine State Standards until we are able to truly develop our own.

Repeal the contract with America Institute for Research (AIR) and hold those accountable who contracted with this type of organization.

The following are among the reasons to oppose Common Core (CC). We should stop CC because it:

Has never been tested. Even its main proponent Bill Gates says that it’s an experiment and we won’t know whether it’s successful for years.

Takes away local control, with virtually all control of the standards being held by the two DC based trade organizations responsible for its development.

Forces younger students to utilize “critical thinking” for which they’re not developmentally ready.

Forces teachers to follow lesson plans dictated by the developers and, in many cases, forces teachers to watch students “grapple with the text” without helping them.

Gathers massive amounts of student data. This data used to be protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Changes in FERPA which were made by President Obama now make the data available to private enterprises and through them to the federal government.

Has never been evaluated for the cost to implement or the cost to maintain over time.

Will utilize curriculum that has been hastily developed and not adequately vetted.

You’ve seen these before, and there are many more. This is simply a reminder of the devastating nature of this initiative and, hopefully, reminds you that the “talking points” used by proponents frequently don’t represent the “full disclosure” to which you’re entitled!

About the Author

President & Founder of Community Issues Council. I'm a conservative Christian activist. For 18 years I've advocated locally from a Christian Worldview for the Sanctity of Life, Religious Liberty, Traditional Family, parents' rights, and children's education. My opinion is regularly sought out by people in the community and by local media.